Anifah refuses to sign loyalty pledge, calls it degrading

By Leslie Lau

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 29 — Sabah MP Datuk Anifah Aman says he will not sign any pledge of loyalty and support for the Barisan Nasional.

Instead, the man considered the de facto leader of BN MPs from Sabah called Unity, Cultural, Arts and Heritage Minister Datuk Shafie Apdal's plan to collect the pledges from all East Malaysian MPs "degrading and humiliating”.

"I have said it before and I still say it now I am not crossing over. Now he wants us to sign a pledge all because he is contesting for his Umno division chief's post," Anifah told The Malaysian Insider today.

The position of East Malaysian MPs is front and centre again following the return of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to Parliament yesterday.

Shafie cobbled together a group of 20 MPs from Sabah and Sarawak yesterday to pledge their open support for BN in an attempt to head off talks of crossovers from East Malaysia which would topple the BN government.

He is also hoping to collect pledges of loyalty from all Sabah and Sarawak MPs and deliver them to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Badawi today.

But he will have to do without Anifah's signature.

"He is further degrading us. He is making us out to be a bunch of rascals," Anifah said in response to Shafie's move.

"If he wants us to sign why not collect signatures from all BN MPs. I do not see any reason to sign. I cannot help it if he does not trust himself."

Anifah has been a central figure amid speculation of crossovers to the Pakatan Rakyat alliance since the March general election resulted in BN losing its two-thirds majority in Parliament and East Malaysian MPs tipping the scales in favour of BN still holding on to power.

Following his rejection of an offer to be a deputy minister in the Abdullah administration, he has shaped himself into a kingmaker, and has applied the necessary pressure on Putrajaya to allocate more resources and attention to issues in East Malaysia.

But The Insider understands he has so far rebuffed overtures from Anwar to defect.

His independent-mindedness however has kept both the BN and PR politicians guessing as to his actual alliance.

Yesterday, he was the lone BN MP who spoke out against the controversial DNA Bill, stopping just short of openly defying the BN whip.

By speaking out against a government motion on the same day Anwar returned to Parliament, he sparked intense speculation again about crossovers.

Asked today his comment about the consequences of Anwar's return to Parliament, all he would say was "he is just another MP”.